Ken Ogorek lives in Indianapolis, Indiana with his wife of 28 years; he and Melissa (Gannon ’90) have three children (ages 16-23). They enjoy hiking, reading, watching sports, and being social with family & friends. Ken works as the Director of Catechesis for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, where he assists an archbishop with the teaching aspect of his responsibilities. Working with over 100 parish catechetical leaders, Ken serves as a resource in support of evangelization and teaching the Faith in the 126 parishes across central and southeastern Indiana. He also helps hire college graduates for jobs in ministry.
Ken recognizes that his graduate work at Gannon University not only prepared him for what he did immediately afterwards, but also for subsequent career opportunities. Before his current position in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, he was a high school religion teacher and a nonprofit fundraiser. He served as President for the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership, 2015-2018. While a student at Gannon, Ken worked as a Resident Director in Student Living. He has enjoyed meeting new people and developing lifelong friendships at Gannon and beyond.
Ken knows how strong the faith community is at Gannon, and he believes there will always be students and alumni who are interested in working for the Church. He has spent 20+ years in Church leadership and would love to be a source of information and support for any student or graduate seeking to serve in this fulfilling, important field. As advice to current students, Ken says it is important to network with alumni and conduct informational interviews. Alumni are always willing to help a fellow member of the Gannon family!
Ken values his “dream job” that he gets to do every day and thanks Gannon University for kick-starting his advanced education and his career.
(published November 2020)